In brief: Tax credit, low loan rates boost home sales

WASHINGTON — Homebuyers rushed to take advantage of government incentives and low mortgage rates in April, giving the housing market its biggest boost in five months.

But now that a homebuyer tax credit has expired, growth in the second half of the year will depend on the lure of historically low mortgage rates and the strength of the economic recovery.

Some economists say mortgage rates alone won’t be enough to propel the market. “Although mortgage rates have fallen sharply, the combination of high unemployment, heavy indebtedness and tight credit suggest to us that demand will stumble,” said Paul Dales, an economist at Capital Economics.

Sales of previously owned homes rose 7.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.77 million, the National Association of Realtors said Monday.

NEWSMAKERS

Applications for jobless benefits fall by 14,000

WASHINGTON — The number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits have dropped but the level still remained higher than expected, indicating only modest improvements in the job market.

Applications for unemployment benefits fell by 14,000 to 460,000 in the week starting May 16, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Analysts had expected the level would fall further to 455,000.

The latest decline came after claims had risen by a revised 28,000 in the previous week, the largest gain in three months.

The latest level of claims is slightly higher than at the start of the year, underscoring that the nation’s workers are still facing tough times, though the overall economy is growing again after enduring the worst recession since the 1930s.

Trader Joe’s plans to open store at mall

VENTURA — Trader Joe’s plans to open a store on the north end of Pacific View mall in Ventura sometime in 2011, a company official confirmed.

Rumors had been circulating for months that the popular grocery chain was coming to the mall. Trader Joe’s spokeswoman Alison Mochizuki confirmed it last week but could not yet offer specifics. “I don’t have a closer time frame right now,” she said.

Ventura City Manager Rick Cole said the deal has been in the works for a while. “We’ve worked with Trader Joe’s for three years to assist them in opening a second market in Ventura. We’ve been pleased with their choice of the north end of the mall, which has been in negotiation for well over a year,” Cole said.

The new store will be part of an extensive effort by mall owner Macerich Co. to revitalize the north end, which has been vacant for years.

— From staff and wire reports

A good week for ...

Limoneira Co.: The Santa Paula-based agribusiness, family-run since 1893, is now a public company and was listed Thursday for the first time on the Nasdaq Stock Market, rising 16 percent on its first day.

A bad week for ...

Kenneth I. Starr: The New York financial adviser to the rich and famous was arrested on federal charges that he ran a fraud scheme that included diverting $30 million in client money to buy a sprawling Upper East Side condo.